*AN: This is actually a spin-off of a friend's fanfic, Negoda's Revenge, of which she's not writing it anymore… Who knows, maybe after I post this I can get her to re-post it or start all over… But this story follows my character, Navashuryn, in her earlier years, before she comes to the Realm of Gods, and also sort of brings into effect some ideas about elves that I got into my mind… I started this story, originally thinking of putting it into parts, but then I lost momentum… I finally finished the story as an essay for English… I'm not sure exactly where this belongs, but seeing as how the original Negoda's Revenge was an Inuyasha fanfic, I thought that it might belong here… I'd appreciate if you can tell me where this belongs… ^-^; Well, that's it for my note… Onto the story! Hope you enjoy… ^-^ *
"I may have found it," I muttered to myself, "I may have found the answer!"
Puttering about my lab, I, the ageless elf Navashuryn (known to my friends as Nava), was conducting experiments to find the answer to that which only I, and the one who put me there, remembered fully. Not even my closest friend, Kayko, knew exactly what it was that I was searching for. It wasn't that it was a secret, just that I had been there, in the Realm of Gods, for so long that most had forgotten the details that had brought me there in the first place. If it hadn't been for my elfish looks and personality, it would have seemed that I belonged there. But I didn't.
I had come from the world of the elves, and, having lived over 3,000 years, I had spent about a third of my life in the Realm. (I had lost track after the first hundred years.) Being an elf, I didn't look my age; instead, I still looked to be in my teens, and will probably remain that way for the rest of my immortal life. I longed to go home, and if it weren't for my "current" dilemma, I would have gone a long time ago. Thinking of home, I took out the amulet that represented my star. In the shape of a heart, the lavender color of the crystal was what made it for me and my star, for every elf had one that connected them to their stars.
"I haven't been able to connect with my star since I started living here," was my thought as I sorrowfully gazed at the stone, "The Realm is too far above the stars for the magic to truly work. I wonder if I'll ever see it again… Since living here, in the Realm of Gods, it is like I was destined to live in hell." Musing on what had been the past, I started to remember the way life had been before coming to the Realm.
Children, amongst the elves, are cherished, mostly because there are so few. An elf is not considered an adult until they reach their first thousand years. Until then, they are still considered "youngsters", and not given much responsibility. It was as I reached my first thousand years that Thali entered my life. Changes have happened many times during my long life, most of them unpleasant. I have often regretted most of them, even some of the pleasant changes, But the one change that I've never regretted was the birth of my little brother, Thalionoreion.
Once Thali was born, my parents had to prepare for the naming ceremony. The naming ceremony is a tradition amongst my people where every elf, upon their naming, receives a star and an amulet that is completely his or her own. The stars are the hearts of elven magic; this is why our amulets are in the shape of a heart. The amulets connect us to our individual stars, allowing us to radiate light and use the power of the elves. We are also given a sort of… unworldly beauty that diminishes when too long without our stars' light, making us, not ugly, but looking less… out of this world.
The day of Thali's naming ceremony started off like any other day, but it would turn into an unforgettable one. I was holding Thali as the light of a star fell upon him and an amulet appeared around his neck, hanging from a silver chain. I was also holding him when the demons attacked our home.
"Nava, take your brother and hide!" I remember hearing my father say as he and my mother went to fight the demons with their magic. Following these orders, I ran to find a hiding place, blind to all that was going on around me. Finding a hiding spot far from the fighting, I stayed there until and elder came to find me. I never saw my mother or father alive again.
That day, I became Thali's mother, father, and sister. For the next thousand years, I taught and nurtured him, having an occasional sibling disagreement. I loved him more than anything in the world; he was all that I had left, except for my star. I would have done anything and everything to keep him from harm.
As Thali was reaching is first thousand years and I my second, he was full of excitement, for he would then be considered an adult and would officially be allowed to join the foresters. While I often relied on my brains, Thali relied on his senses. The woods around our home were his passion. He spent most of his free time with the foresters, often following them like a puppy. The foresters kept an eye on him for me and would get him out of harm's way if the situation was too dangerous for my little brother. Yet, despite the foresters and my efforts to keep Thali from trouble, he unintentionally met it shortly before his thousandth birthday.
Somehow, Thali angered the gods that day. I believe he might have accidentally killed a beloved animal of the gods while out hunting; it was either that, of it was a deliberate plan to get me to the Realm of Gods. It was the god, Kurogassai, who came to punish Thali. I found out what that punishment was when I tried to wake my brother up the next morning, and he wouldn't wake up!
I tried everything I could to wake Thali, to no avail. I was beginning to get frantic when Kurogassai materialized, telling me he had cast a sleeping spell on my little brother.
"He will not waken unless I, the god of gods, wake him or you find the cure. If you come with me to the Realm of Gods and aide us in making a powerful weapon, we will give you whatever you need to find the cure," was what he told me.
So, after making sure that Thali would be cared for (the foresters promised to come check on him every day), I left for the Realm of Gods. I had finished this weapon that turned out to be top secret after the first hundred years, but I still remained, for I still needed to find the cure for Thali. As long as this dilemma remained, so did I, in the Realm of Gods. So, I made the most of my long stay: making friends, establishing a lab, and even buying myself an, at the moment, unnamed snow white fox.
Coming back from the world of memories, I wrote down what I had just found. It could possibly be the cure I had been searching for all these long years. "I might be able to go home now," was my thought as I wrote down my discovery. The white fox interrupted my thoughts by becoming tense, warning me of visitors.
I still had my amulet out, so I quickly hid it. Glancing at the white fox, I thought, "I really have to find a name for him. (I forgot that I had thought that exact thing over the 500 years that I'd had him.)" That was when Kayko and a strange dark-haired man entered my lab. It would be a while yet before I saw home and my little brother.